Controversial WH photo

[CarltonBanks]

Posted without comment:
http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-photo-sparks-protest-223835400.html

 

[mb]

Replied without comment.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Please do not just copy stories from the wire or other web sites and post them as a thread without a comment from yourself. By offering your comments or insight it offers some substance and direction on the topic.

 

[YankeeFan]

Do you have a link to the photo?

OK, I looked.

Here it is:

If they were going to do this, they should have allowed AP to do the same.

Otherwise, they should have followed the lead of the DoD and not had photogs.

 

[Azrael]

"Sparks protest"?

By whom?

 

[HejiraHenry]

This president continues to be poorly supported by his staff.

 

[CarltonBanks]

This president continues to be poorly supported by his staff.

He also has some accountability here. How could he possibly not know this was in terrible taste?

 

[LongTimeListener]

This president continues to be poorly supported by his staff.

He also has some accountability here. How could he possibly not know this was in terrible taste?

Is there any indication he knew there was a photographer there or that the DoD had said no?

I also don't see the "protest" of which the headline speaks. Unless they're talking about AP protesting that it got shut out.

 

[YankeeFan]

This president continues to be poorly supported by his staff.

He also has some accountability here. How could he possibly not know this was in terrible taste?

Is there any indication he knew there was a photographer there or that the DoD had said no?

I also don't see the "protest" of which the headline speaks. Unless they're talking about AP protesting that it got shut out.

It was a WH photog. He would be "in the package" and someone very well known to the President -- someone who is around him all the time.

And, yeah, the protest referred to AP (and other news orgs), I don't think they meant to imply their were protesters in the streets.

 

[LongTimeListener]

This president continues to be poorly supported by his staff.

He also has some accountability here. How could he possibly not know this was in terrible taste?

Is there any indication he knew there was a photographer there or that the DoD had said no?

I also don't see the "protest" of which the headline speaks. Unless they're talking about AP protesting that it got shut out.

It was a WH photog. He would be "in the package" and someone very well known to the President -- someone who is around him all the time.

And, yeah, the protest referred to AP (and other news orgs), I don't think they meant to imply their were protesters in the streets.

So are we debating whether Obama infuriated the families or whether the AP got its knickers in a twist? Because one of those things apparently didn't happen and the other doesn't mean all that much.

 

[YankeeFan]

So are we debating whether Obama infuriated the families or whether the AP got its knickers in a twist? Because one of those things apparently didn't happen and the other doesn't mean all that much.

Well, so far, just the latter -- though I think that does matter.

But, the DoD had rules in place out of respect for the families. I don't think we know yet if any family members were offended by the picture.

 

[BDC99]

So the White House photog has access that other organizations don't have? Color me shocked. What is the outrage here? That they went against the families' wishes (even though this photo could have been from any number of ceremonies and did not depict the caskets or anything remotely similar). Is it that the other orgs were shut out (a legitimate journalistic concern). Or is it that the president and his staff are manufacturing positive press? Oh, the horror!

 

[Armchair_QB]

Kings don't generally worry too much about rules.

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

Controversial!

 

[CarltonBanks]

The Obama apologists have no shame. Here is a man using the death of US soldiers for political gain. He and his staff went AGAINST DOD rules, ignored the wishes of the majority of the families that lost loved ones and released a photo of Obama looking "presidential." This is not surprising, however.

"Or is it that the president and his staff are manufacturing positive press?"

I guess I should also not be surprised that some would view using the tragic death of 30 young soldiers to "manufacture positive press" is acceptable. Stop, take a step back and think about that for a second. Manufacturing positive press from this horrible event. Has the president, or his apologists, any shame at all???

Yes, I do have a problem with the president using these deaths to "manufacture positive press." I have a big problem with it. And you should, too, if you had any common decency.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Controversy indeed.

And you had to insist on a comment being made, TSP!

 

[LongTimeListener]

"Sparks protest"?

By whom?

You have your answer, Az. "People are talking about it."

The Obama apologists have no shame. Here is a man using the death of US soldiers for political gain. He and his staff went AGAINST DOD rules, ignored the wishes of the majority of the families that lost loved ones and released a photo of Obama looking "presidential." This is not surprising, however.

"Or is it that the president and his staff are manufacturing positive press?"

I guess I should also not be surprised that some would view using the tragic death of 30 young soldiers to "manufacture positive press" is acceptable. Stop, take a step back and think about that for a second. Manufacturing positive press from this horrible event. Has the president, or his apologists, any shame at all???

Yes, I do have a problem with the president using these deaths to "manufacture positive press." I have a big problem with it. And you should, too, if you had any common decency.

 

[DanOregon]

Just to be clear - the controversy isn't about the photo - it is that news orgs are hacked that they couldn't take the same photo.

 

[Bubbler]

The Obama apologists have no shame. Here is a man using the death of US soldiers for political gain. He and his staff went AGAINST DOD rules, ignored the wishes of the majority of the families that lost loved ones and released a photo of Obama looking "presidential." This is not surprising, however.

"Or is it that the president and his staff are manufacturing positive press?"

I guess I should also not be surprised that some would view using the tragic death of 30 young soldiers to "manufacture positive press" is acceptable. Stop, take a step back and think about that for a second. Manufacturing positive press from this horrible event. Has the president, or his apologists, any shame at all???

Yes, I do have a problem with the president using these deaths to "manufacture positive press." I have a big problem with it. And you should, too, if you had any common decency.

Except the press didn't have the chance to use the photo, nor shoot one like it. It only appeared on the White House website, hardly the go-to site for news, for well, anyone.

Nor has any family stepped forward, to my knowledge, to object to the photo.

But don't let that stop you from carrying on hysterically ...

 

[Baron Scicluna]

That's it. This is the final straw! I'm not voting for him in 2012.